Advoco Lupum
by Arra
Summary: Being a werewolf is becoming even more difficult for Remus Lupin. Voldemort's after him, he's all but imprisoned at Hogwarts 'for his own safety,' and his nephew, Sirius and Harry are all driving him up the wall. And what does all this have to do with som
1. Chapter 1

Title: Advoco Lupum  
Author: Arra  
Description: Being a werewolf is becoming even more difficult for Remus Lupin. Voldemort's after him, he's all but imprisoned at Hogwarts 'for his own safety,' and his nephew, Sirius and Harry are all driving him up the wall. And what does all this have to do with some dusty old book?  
Rating: PG-13  
Spoilers: all four books  
Warning: um…I really haven't decided if this is slash yet. (Yeah right, who am I kidding? It'll be slash. They just through themselves at each other, it's really not my fault.) If it is slash the main pairing is Sirius/Remus with hints of whatever other ship I currently support (depends on the day).   
Notes: This starts at the end of PoA and then skips quickly to the summer after Harry's fourth year. It's a sequel of sorts to my fic 'From the Ashes' but that part of the plot won't show up for a few chapters. Told from Remus' pov, but may change in later chapters.

*****

__

Dear Mr. Remus J. Lupin,

We regret to inform you that your brother, Romulus B. Lupin died yesterday…

*****

As if my life couldn't get any more complicated.

I'd woken that morning in the middle of the forbidden forest disoriented and confused. Why was I out here? What had happened the night before? The Wolfsbane potion should have let me remember everything, so why was it all a blur?

But memory soon came back to me. The map, the shrieking shack, Sirius, Peter, having all the 'truths' I'd built my life around for the past twelve year all turned on their ear in the space of five minutes. Sirius was innocent, he hadn't betrayed James and Lily… or me.

But I had messed everything up. For the first time since I was six years old, I had forgotten about the moon. I had to get back to the castle, to find out what had happened. I was actually frighteningly close to school. And I had to make a mad dash in the predawn light from the edge of the forest to the Whomping Willow to retrieve my wand so I could summon myself some clothes.

I quickly made my way to Dumbledore's office to find out what had happened. I anything had happened to any of them I would never forgive myself. 

I arrived in the Headmaster's office just past sunrise and he told me everything that had happened. I breathed a sigh of relief when he said I hadn't hurt anyone but nearly had a heart attack when he said Sirius had been captured. Dumbledore quickly assured me that he had escaped but it was a while before I got my hands to stop shaking. After all the explaining was done I thanked Dumbledore profusely, for everything, and excused myself and headed towards my office. I had a letter to write.

It pained me to realize it, but I was too big of a risk. I couldn't, in good conscience, stay at Hogwarts when I knew that my very presence put every single student in danger. I would have to resign. I had just sat down at my desk and pulled out a quill and parchment when my stomach informed me that it was time for breakfast.

I was so distracted that I had walked through the Great Hall, sat down and had started looking through my morning mail, of which I had much more that usual, before I realized that nearly every student in the hall was staring at me and many were whispering to each other in hushed tones. 

It was like one of my old nightmares from when I'd been in school. Just waking up one day and having everyone suddenly know about my curse. It was a good thing I'd already decided to resign or I probably would have been devastated. I sighed and stood back up without touching my breakfast and left the Great Hall for what I thought was the last time.

I quickly returned to my desk, my hunger forgotten, and wrote a hasty resignation letter. I went back to Dumbledore's office and gave him the letter, and as expected he tried to talk me out of leaving even after he learned that the students knew about my condition. But when I had politely declined for the third or fourth time he finally relented and said that a carriage would be waiting out front whenever I was ready to leave.

I thanked him for everything and left to pack my things.

I quickly gathered my meager belongings, said my good byes to Harry and turned down Dumbledore yet again before I had made it out of Hogwarts and on the coach headed for Hogsmead station.

It wasn't until I was looking back to the only place that I had considered home in a long time that I realized that I had no idea what I was going to do once I got off the train at King's Cross. I also hadn't read my mail.

With the bizarrely optimistic idea that fate would be kind enough to send me a telegram telling me what it had planned for me next I picked one of the three letters I'd gotten that morning at random and opened it.

Fate was not being kind to me. In fact I'm pretty sure it likes making my life miserable. The letter was from some muggle lawyer informing me that I had inherited my family's old house and everything in it. Because its previous owner, my brother, had been mauled to death by a dog. And I also got custody of his ten-year-old son.

At that point I think I went on autopilot, because the next thing I remember is shaking hands with some muggle in a suit. He explained some of the muggle legal proceeding and had me sign several papers that I didn't even read before driving me to the hospital.

I was still in a daze as I was led through halls and corridors. It was only when I was stopped in front of one of the many unassuming white doors that I fully came out of my stupor. I couldn't quite tell why, but I did _not_ want to go through that door.

But as soon as I walked in the room and the scent hit me, I knew why. I smelt Wolf. And I didn't have to look at my nephew, to look into eyes once blue and now a haunted gold, to know… My brother hadn't been killed by a dog, he'd been killed by a werewolf. And his son had been bitten.

What had I gotten myself into?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter: 2

I sat at the kitchen table trying to fight back the headache that was pounding in my skull. I hadn't been able to talk at the hospital, so I'd let the muggle lawyer explain things to my nephew as we just stared at each other from across the hospital room. The lawyer was kind enough to drive us to my family's house, a house I hadn't set foot in in over two decades. It was all too strange and too sudden. Five shocks in a little over a day was just too much for me to deal with.

Sirius was innocent, Peter wasn't dead, all of Hogwarts knew of my curse, my brother was dead and now I had to take care of a nephew I hadn't even known I had, and he just happened to be a werewolf. It was official, Fate hated my guts.

I let my head slip from my hands and pressed my forehead against the cool wood of the table. 'What am I going to do?' Visions of how hard it had been on my parents to raise me kept flashing in my mind. I didn't know the first thing about raising children, let alone a werewolf cub. Kids tended to learn best by example and I didn't want any child, werewolf or not, turning out like me. 

"Uncle Remus?" my eyes snapped open and I looked up to see my nephew standing in the doorway looking wary and confused. It suddenly hit me that I didn't know anything about him.

"I don't even know your name," I winced as the words left my mouth, 'great move' I though to myself. 'First thing out of my mouth and I sound like an idiot.'

"Aeneas," he said quietly. I found it almost painful to look at him. Before he was bitten he must have looked exactly like Romulus, but now…gold eyes haunted with pain and uncertainty, he reminded me of me. And I vowed right then that I would do anything in my power to make sure he didn't end up like me.

"What…what's wrong with me?" I looked at him sadly before lowering my head back to the table and sighting. 'You're a teacher, so teach!' I yell at myself after a few moments.

"How much did your father tell you about our parents, or me?" I asked as I looked back up at him. If he didn't know anything about the Wizarding world the explanation would take a great deal longer.

"Dad said…that grama and grampa had been special and he…he never mentioned you.." I chose to ignore that last part. Romulus and I had never gotten along; it didn't surprise me all that much.

"Yes, your grandparents were special because they could use magic." Aaneas didn't look all that surprised so I continued with my 'lecture.' "There are not only people who have magic but animals too. You feel… strange because you weren't bitten by a dog, you were bitten by a werewolf." He just nodded, solemn and quiet. How could he be so much like me when I'd never met him before that day?

"You are too," he said quietly. I couldn't stop myself from looking at him in surprise. He could tell that already? I mused that that was yet another thing all those books were wrong about.

It still amazes me that both of us made it through that first year with our sanities intact. The hardest thing for me was grasping the workings of the 'state school' that Aaneas attended, it was nothing like Hogwarts, the only school I'd ever attended. And for Aaneas, no amount of explaining could prepare someone for the Change, from human to wolf and back again, especially for someone so young. But we both survived and things had settled into a normal routine. Well, until… 

"Wolf!" Last time I'd checked, Aaneas had been in the back garden, looking like he had been trying to catch something. But at his yell I turned just in time to see him speed in the back door and run and hide behind me. I looked out the window and saw nothing.

"Aanei," I said as I tried to pry his hand from my shirt before he ripped it. "I doubt you saw a wolf; it's broad daylight, tomorrow's the new moon, and there aren't any normal wolves left in England." Aaneas just looked at me with wide gold eyes, refusing to let go of my shirt.

"But I saw one," he said with conviction. "It was in the backyard." He looked sufficiently terrified that I agreed to go outside and looked around. At first I saw nothing, that was until my eyes landed on a large black paw sticking out from under a hedge. I turned back to Aaneas, who was peering around the edge of the back door.

"It's alright, there's no wolf," I assured him and then smiled as I looked back at the hedge. "Though I think there is a scraggly old mutt hiding under the bushes." I chuckled as an indignant snort issued from said bushes and a pair of pale eyes glared up at me from a break in the foliage. "Hello Padfoot, are you going to hide under there all day?" I ask lightly.

As the big black dog wriggled out from under the bushes I got a chance to study him. 'Poor Sirius,' I thought sadly. He was a mess, his fur matted and paws caked with dirt, and he looked like he hadn't eaten in a month. 'Well, for as long as he's staying here I can try and do something about that,' I thought to myself.

Aaneas was alternately looking at me like I'd gone crazy, and looking at Padfoot like the dog was going to bite him. As I lead Sirius into the house, he kept a watchful eye on us both as he backed across the room.

"It's alright, Aanei," I said, trying to sound as calm as possible, But he didn't look like he believed me.

"Can I go to my room?" he asked softly, still backing away. I nodded and he disappeared around the corner.

"Annie?" The voice behind me made me jump and I whirled around to see a gaunt, unshaven and absolutely filthy version of Sirius standing in the corner of my kitchen. He looked better than the last time I'd seen him but that wasn't saying much. He smiled at me with cracked lips and quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't that a girls name?"

"Aanei," I corrected, though it sounded almost the same. "It's short for Aaneas." He just nodded and sat down heavily on one of the kitchen chairs. He leaned his elbows on the table and held his head in his hands.

"Remus there's a lot of stuff I've got to tell you," he said softly, not looking at me. I sat down next to him at the table and put my hand on his arm. He looked so drained and so tired.

"If it's about what happened to Harry after the Tri-Wizard tournament, you don't have to tell me. Dumbledore sent me an owl not long after it happened telling me everything, including that you're supposed to be staying here for a while." Sirius looked very relieved that he didn't have to explain. 

"Are you hungry?" I asked, getting up to go look in the cupboards. "I think we might have some leftovers."

"You didn't cook them, did you? Because if I have to choose between starving and being poisoned I'll pick starving." I smiled to myself before shooting him a mock glare over the top of the door to the muggle icebox. At least he could still make jokes.

"My cooking is not that bad," I retorted as I fished out some curry from behind a carton of orange juice. It felt so good to have someone to joke with. It had been…too long. I looked back over at Sirius and smiled.

"I'm glad you're here," I said, absently casting a heating charm on the food without really looking at it. But I looked back at my work abruptly as I smelled smoke. I sighed and started looking in the icebox again because I doubted that the charred lump I'd created would be edible even to someone who's been living off of rats for the past year. I could hear Sirius laughing at me and rolled my eyes. At least I was good for something.

"I'm glad I'm here too," Sirius managed between chuckles. "Even if you do poison me." I threw a bagel at him and continued my search.


	3. Chapter 3

Advoco Lupum - Chapter 3 

Title: Advoco Lupum, Chapter 3   
Description: Being a werewolf is becoming even more difficult for Remus Lupin. Voldemort's after him, he's all but imprisoned at Hogwarts 'for his own safety,' and his nephew, Sirius and Harry are all driving him up the wall. And what does all this have to do with some dusty old book?   
Rating: PG-13   
Pairings: SB/RL and possibly others, When I figure out who I'll let you know.   
Spoilers: AU after Harry's fourth year but with a few pieces of background info from OotP.   
Disclaimer: I don't own them no matter how much I wish I did.   
Notes: This starts at the end of PoA and then skips quickly to the summer after Harry's fourth year. It's a sequel of sorts to my fic 'From the Ashes' but that part of the plot won't show up for a few chapters. Told from Remus' pov, but may change in later chapters. Oh, and since this takes place in Harry's fifth year, OotP doesn't happen.   
Warnings: Slash, a little violence, language (mostly from Sirius) and discussions about Remus' sex life or lack there of.

* * *

Luckily for Sirius, Aaneas came back into the kitchen and rescued him from anymore of my attempts at cooking. He took something out of the icebox and putting it in the 'micrawarmer' or something like that. I'd lived there for a year and I still didn't know what it was called or how it worked.

"Where'd the dog go and who's he?" he asked, giving Sirius a skeptical look and holding out the warmed food to me. I in turn promptly put the plate of food in front of Sirius who was soon too busy eating to answer Aaneas' question. Aaneas was used to strange people stopping by to talk with me, but usually I introduced them to him. I briefly wondered if he was old enough to remember any of the news broadcasts when Sirius had escaped. Dear Gods, had that really been two years ago?

"He's an old friend of mine, remember how I said that someone would be staying with us for a little while?" I had mentioned it when I'd first gotten the letter from Dumbledore. He nodded and then looked back at Sirius in curiosity.

"Why are your robes so dirty?" I was too stunned to reprimand Aanei for being rude, but Sirius just paused in scraping the last bits of food from his plate and smiled at him slightly.

"They're the only one's I've got, so I've worn them a bit thin," he replied, yawning and scratching at the more-than-stubble on his chin. Aaneas was looking at me like I'd let a madman into the house. And maybe I had, but he didn't need to know that.

"The shower's the first door on the left at the top of the stairs," I said as I collected his plate and dumped it into the sink with the other dirty dishes. "And I'll try and find a robe that'll fit you for you to change into." Sirius frowned, fidgeting slightly.

"You don't have to do that. I'm fine, you don't need to fuss," he said nervously. I mock glared at him.

"You are not wearing those," I gestured towards the faded gray patchwork that he called a robe, "while you are living under this roof. And I am not fussing…I'm being a good friend." I smiled at him fondly, a bit embarrassed after the statement left my mouth. And I was even more embarrassed a moment later as Sirius rose from his chair and pulled me into a fierce hug.

"Thank you," he said when he pulled back and looked me in the eye. "I think I'll go and take that bath now. It was nice to meet you Aaneas." He said with a nod at my nephew before disappearing up the stairs.

"Who _is_ that, Uncle Remus?" he asked, sounding rather annoyed that we hadn't answered his question before.

"His name is Sirius," I said, smiling down at him and promptly went in search of some clothes for Sirius. Aaneas fallowed me.

"He's a friend of yours?" Aaneas asked as I rummaged through my dresser. I grunted in assent as I tried to reach the back of a magically enlarged drawer. "Why doesn't he have any other clothes?"

"Because he's in a bit of a spot right now," I answered, moving my search from the dresser to the closet. "And that is also why he'll be staying with us."

"Because he's gotten into trouble?" Aaneas said, looking doubtful, annoyed and scared all at the same time.

"I never said that," I countered defensively. I really didn't want to have to explain exactly _why Sirius here just yet, and Aanei's comment had been a bit close for comfort. "A-ha!" I said triumphantly, pulling a pair of jeans out from under a box to join the t-shirt I'd already picked up. _

"Um, Uncle Remus?" Aaneas' worried voice made me stop in my rummaging and look at him. "What about, well…full moons and stuff?" I sighed and smiled sadly to myself. He was starting to get as paranoid as I was about our 'condition'. I'm not sure whether I should be glad or feel guilty. 

"Sirius already knows that I'm a werewolf," I say as I stand, trying to balance the bundle of clothes in my arms. "And he's one of the few people who won't think anything of it when he finds out you're one too."

"You're going to tell him!?" Aaneas asked, sounding rather panicked.

"I won't if you don't want me to," I said, coming out of my distracted haze enough to realize he was really worried and that my attitude about the whole thing probably wasn't helping. I patted him on the shoulder, and for the thousandth time silently apologized for being such a lousy guardian. But Aaneas seemed satisfied that his secret was safe and that the weird guy his uncle was friends with was harmless so he just turned and went back downstairs, presumably to continue doing whatever he had been doing earlier.

I sighed and went down the hall to the bathroom and wondered if I should just leave the clothes outside or go in. I decided to just leave the clothes and returned downstairs to see what I could do about ordering take away.

It was well after dark by the time Sirius emerged from the bathroom, and that was probably only because he'd used up all the hot water. Part of me realized that I should probably be annoyed but I really couldn't bring myself to care. I was probably still too dazed by the fact that he was here at all to be annoyed by just about anything.

Aaneas had come inside and was now reading one of the books I'd gotten him in Diagon Alley. I wonder if it's such a good idea, exposing him to the Wizarding world. My brother, being a Squib, had tried to integrate into the muggle world and from what I'd seen had been fairly successful. I wondered if Aaneas would be alright with all the magic that had suddenly come into his life, or if he'd grow up to be bitter about it like his father had been.

I sat down at the kitchen table, just staring at the boxes of Thai food I'd gotten for dinner. I hadn't realized it but I'd been on automatic since Sirius had show up. While he'd been in the shower I'd not only gotten food, but made up the spare room and cleaned the house a bit, not really thinking about any of it. Truthfully having Sirius here was making me nervous. And not just because if the Ministry found out I'd probably find myself in the cell next to Sirius in Azkaban. 

It was wonderful to see him again, but there was so much that I didn't even feel comfortable _thinking_ around Sirius. Like Azkaban, James and Lily, and especially Peter. I wondered if we'd end up sitting in uncomfortable silence for days and days, afraid to say anything in case it might stir up old memories that neither of us wanted to deal with. Or maybe it was just me who didn't want to deal with them, I'd spent the last fourteen years trying to forget everything that had happened to me between the ages of eleven and twenty-two.

I shook my head, trying to dispel ghosts of memory and focused on setting the table. I really shouldn't have worried about awkward silences during dinner. Sirius made enough clanks and bangs attempting to eat with the chopsticks that had come with the food, that there wasn't any silence to feel awkward about. And after he'd given up and used his fork I managed to venture a question about what he'd been doing since the beginning of June, which was the last time I had heard from Dumbledore about his whereabouts. And Sirius took the opportunity to talk, much to my surprise. Though I was slightly worried that he didn't take all that many opportunities to breath during his stories.

"And you should have seen some of the people Dumbledore had me get in touch with, Remus," Sirius said, pointing at me with a fork that had just been unburdened of the last of the noodles. He'd been starting ever one of his stories like that. 'You should have been there' or 'you would have love it, Remus' it made me happy and sad at the same time. Because a big part of me wished that I had been there. "Most of them I'd never met. He called them the Old Crowd, but I don't know what he meant by that, one of them didn't look much older than Harry. When he told me to contact people I though he meant people like Arthur Weasley and Moody, you know, people who were involved last time. Not blokes who should be committed to St. Mungo's and little old ladies with too many cats." Sirius sighed and ran his hands through his now clean and haphazardly cut hair before smiling slightly. "I did get to see Harry though. Apparently the lady with the cats knows Harry's relatives. I got to spend a whole day with him before coming here. He never ceases to amaze me. He's bloody brilliant…just like James…" Sirius trailed off, his face contorting into a grimace of pain, his eyes no longer seeing the table in front of him.

"Sirius?" I said, worried. But my voice seemed to snap him out of whatever memory he'd been seeing behind his eyes.

"What?" he said, looking around wildly as if he didn't quite know where he was. He blinked at me for a moment before coming back to himself. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Um…no. It's late, maybe we should all get some sleep," I said, watching my old friend with worried eyes. Sirius nodded absently, his eyes glazing over again slightly until he shook himself back to reality, as if he were trying to shake water off of nonexistent fur.

Aaneas had already disappeared at some point, so quietly that I hadn't even realized he'd left. Ah, here was that awkward silence I had been worried about. I busied my self with gathering up the dishes, aware of Sirius staring at me the whole time.

"Well," I said, causing both of us to jump at my sudden intrusion into the silence. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Why don't I show you to the guestroom." He nodded and rose from his chair, still watching me.

I gave him the one knut tour as we made our way upstairs. There's the door to the basement, that's the living room, the library is through that door. We got to the top of the stairs and I pointed to the end of the hall.

"That's Aanei's room," I told him before turning to point at the guestroom. "And this is your room." He leaned forward to looked through the open door but didn't move to enter. He turned back to be, looking almost nervous.

"Where is your room?" he asked. He bit his bottom lip and stared at the floor, his brows knotted.

"That's my room," I said, pointing to the door that was nearly directly across the hall from the guestroom. I could visibly see some of the tension drain from Sirius' shoulders as he looked up from the floor to where I was pointing.

"So you're sleeping upstairs now?" he asked, a bemused look on his face, as if he didn't know quite what to make of a Remus that didn't sleep in the cellar. Or maybe he was just surprised he remembered that I'd ever slept in one at all.

"Yeah, I got tired of sleeping in basements," I had meant it as an offhand remark, but my tone betrayed a weariness that even a year of stable housing hadn't been able to erase. Too many nights in basements, and sheds, even a few muggle 'shelters' when I had been truly desperate. I sighed and gave Sirius a weak smile.

He stared at me for a long time, his brows knitted, not quite sure what to make of me. He closed his eyes and sighed before turning and walking into the guestroom without another word.

I let him go. I hadn't really wanted to go down that path either. The one that led to everything that had happened in the fourteen years that he had missed. Everything I'd had to go through alone.

I walked the few feet across the hall to my room. I didn't close the door, Sirius hadn't closed his either and I didn't want him to feel like he was intruding if for some reason he needed to speak to me before morning. I stood next to my bed for a long moment, just staring at the covers blankly. With a very weary sigh I fell face first onto my bed. I moved just enough to get my feet onto the bed, extract my wand from my shirt pocket and take off my belt, but only because both were poking me. I was half asleep when I realized I'd left the hall light on and it was shining quite annoyingly through my open doorway. I fumbled for my wand and waved it vaguely at the light bulb and was rewarded with the light going out with a crack. And with a final promise to myself to change the bulb in the morning I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

Advoco Lupum - Chapter 4 

Title: Advoco Lupum, Chapter 4   
Description: Being a werewolf is becoming even more difficult for Remus Lupin. Voldemort's after him, he's all but imprisoned at Hogwarts 'for his own safety,' and his nephew, Sirius and Harry are all driving him up the wall. And what does all this have to do with some dusty old book?   
Rating: PG-13   
Pairings: SB/RL and possibly others, When I figure out who I'll let you know.   
Spoilers: AU after Harry's fourth year but with a few pieces of background info from OotP.   
Disclaimer: I don't own them no matter how much I wish I did.   
Notes: This starts at the end of PoA and then skips quickly to the summer after Harry's fourth year. It's a sequel of sorts to my fic 'From the Ashes' but that part of the plot won't show up for a few chapters. Told from Remus' pov, but may change in later chapters. Oh, and since this takes place in Harry's fifth year, OotP doesn't happen.   
Warnings: Slash, a little violence, language (mostly from Sirius) and discussions about Remus' sex life or lack there of.

* * *

I woke with a start sometime in the predawn morning with this nagging feeling that something was very wrong. I lay in bed, listening to the sounds of the house at night, trying to figure out what had awoken me. The first thing I heard that I couldn't identify at first was snoring from across the hall. But memory soon filled in that it had to be Sirius sleeping peacefully in the guestroom. I smiled slightly, thinking that that had been what had bothered me.

I was about to turn over and go back to sleep when another noise grabbed my attention. A creek of the floorboards out in the hall. But Sirius was asleep, I had just heard him and after living in the house with Aaneas for a year I knew that we both knew to avoid that spot in the floor. Maybe he had just forgotten, but something was telling me that it was something else. 

I rolled silently from the bed and crouched on the floor, looking out into the hall. I didn't see anything, but the creaking of a door caught my attention. Sirius and I had left our doors open, the only door that was closed was Aaneas'. I felt a moment of indecision and stupidity, I was being paranoid. And yet…

Just for my own piece of mind I crept to the doorway and looked out into the hall. It was the new moon, so the stars were alone in the sky. But with my night vision their light was more than enough to silhouette the person in the hallway. I wasn't being paranoid, the silhouette didn't belong to anyone who should have been in my house.

I had grabbed my wand even before rolling out of bed, an unconscious defensive act, and now I pointed it at the back of the stranger standing in the hall. I crept silently towards him, avoiding all the spots in the floor that would have given the slightest hint that I was there.

I was right behind the man when small yelp diverted my attention past him and into Aaneas' room. The man wasn't alone, and his partner had pulled Aaneas from his bed.

I grabbed the man in the hall around the neck and pressed the tip of my wand to the base of his skull.

"Tell your partner to let go of him right now," I growled into his ear. The man nodded and cleared his throat.

"Um, Ms. Hadgrible I really think you should let go of the boy," his voice was meek and well mannered, definitely not what I had expected from a burglar or a Death Eater. 

I saw now that the person holding onto my nephew was a woman. She looked up at her partner in confusion and froze when she saw me.

I saw her eyes widen as she looked at me and I was pretty sure I knew why she was suddenly afraid. My night vision was as good as a cat's, or a wolf's. But unfortunately, like them, if the light hit my eyes just right, they would glow. It was one of the easiest ways to tell if someone was a part-human.

"Who are you?" she asked abruptly, the earlier surprise melting away to almost clinical calmness.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I said. She still had ahold of Aanei. I tightened my hold on the man before me, just enough to make him wheeze with the effort of breathing. "Let go of him." I said, loud enough for her to hear me this time. She complied with a sigh and Aaneas ran past me and out into the hall.

"If you're a relative of his," she said, pointing after my nephew. "You're not safe here." I raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief. 

"Really?" I asked acidly. "And here I was thinking you lot had just popped in for a cup of tea." She rolled her eyes and gave another long-suffering sigh.

"We're not the ones you should be afraid of," she snapped, but whatever else she was going to say was drowned out by a fierce growl from behind me.

"It's all right Padfoot, I have everything under control," I said, not looking over my shoulder to confirm what I knew was behind me. Sirius must have made quite the picture because, even in the dim starlight, I could tell that the woman paled. yes"> 

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I asked.

"My name is Cleo Hadgrible and the man who is currently turning blue in your arms is Rupert Avrone." I was so surprised by her statement that I unintentionally let go of the man and he stumbled forward away from me. Rupert Avrone was a name I recognized quite well, he was the wizard who had invented the Wolfsbane potion, the wizarding world's foremost expert in lycanthropy. There was a slight shift of air behind me and suddenly Sirius was standing at my side.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked, looking at the two intruders in confusion. "Why did you attack the kid?"

"You know them?" I asked incredulously. Where they here looking for him? But no, if that were true Sirius would have just stayed in dog form. I looked between the two intruders and Sirius, now completely bewildered.

"Mr. Black, I didn't expect to see you here," Avrone said, smiling at Sirius as if they were old acquaintances. "And I assure you we did not attack the boy. He is in danger and we…" he ground to a halt as the woman dug her fingers into his should hard enough to make him wince. "He is one of Albus' trusted associates Ms. Hadgrible," he said in exasperation. "I see no harm in giving him an explanation." She gestured at me with her chin, making it quite clear that it wasn't Sirius she had a problem with.

"My name is Remus Lupin, I'm Aaneas' uncle. Now what are you doing in my house?" I said through gritted teeth. 

"You are his mother's brother?" Avrone asked, almost hopefully. 

"Why are you here?" Sirius asked again before I could respond to that unexpected question. Avrone looked at Hadgrible and she nodded reluctantly before stepping away form him.

"The boy is in danger," she said, glaring back and forth between Sirius and I as if daring us to question her. "And so is anyone he is related to by blood." She paused to give me a significant look and then continued. "Aaneas was supposed to be the last in the family line of a rather overlooked but historically significant wizarding family. All that we know at the moment is that Tom Riddle seems to think that the boy is useful and has sent several of his servants to try and find him," She finished, looking grave.

"I know I've heard the name before but who's Tom Riddle and why should we be afraid of him and his minions?" Sirius asked. Hadgrible looked shocked for a moment and then realization dawned on her face and she nodded.

"Oh, sorry, I forget that most people know him better as Voldemort," Sirius and I gaped at her in shock. Voldemort was after my nephew, and he'd sent Death Eaters to capture him. I was going to say something, ask her what exactly Voldemort wanted with my family, ask her to explain, but my thoughts were interrupted by a tug at the hem of my shirt.

"Uncle Remus?" Aanei was using me as a shield, hiding from Avrone and Hadgrible and shaking with fright. "Uncle Remus, there's someone downstairs." I was still so focused on what Hadgrible had just told us that it took a few moments before the words registered. By the time I had whirled around to try and look down the hall Sirius had already turned back into Padfoot and was creeping down the stairs.

It didn't take long for him to return. His tail had just disappeared when there was a crash from downstairs and Padfoot came bounding back up the stairs towards us. He changed back before coming to a stop and ended up in an awkward heap at my feet.

"Death Eaters," he said, quickly picking himself up from the floor.

"Are you sure?" I asked, casting a glance at my other uninvited guests.

"They were Death Eaters," Sirius bit out, looking behind him convulsively ever few seconds. "Unless those two brought friends that just happen to wear silver masks and black cloaks."

"You two must get out of here, and take the boy with you," Avrone said as he stepped cautiously into the hall, wand out and pointed down the hall. "Go to Dumbledore, one of us will be in contact with you as soon as we can."

"And who's going to stop the Death Eaters? You two?" Sirius asked incredulously. Hadgrible glared at him from the doorway to Aaneas' room.

"No, we are going to contact the Aurors. But you can't very well be here when they get here," she said crossly. yes"> "That and both the Lupins need to be somewhere where they are not in danger. If what we suspect is true it's very important that Tom not get his hands on them." I frowned at her, not liking the fact that she was talking as though I wasn't there. But another crash from downstairs pulled my thoughts back to more important matters. I looked down at Aaneas still clinging to my shirt. They were right, I had to get him out of here.

"Come on Aaneas," I said, he looked up at me with wide eyes, confused and scared. I heard the creak of a foot on the stairs, the Death Eaters had probably heard us talking. We had wasted too much time. I picked Aaneas up bodily and took off down the hall.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, fallowing right behind as I ducked back into my room. It had been the master bedroom and it was the only fireplace on the upper floor. I silently thanked whatever ancestor had had it connected to the Floo network ages ago. A flick of my wand and a fire burst to life in the empty hearth.

"I don't really trust them but Avrone gave good advice, I'm going to Dumbledore," I said quickly. Sirius nodded and turned, almost as if to leave the room, to go and fight, but I grabbed his wrist. "Come with me, please?" I was suddenly afraid that if I went I'd never see him again. I didn't think I cold take loosing him again.

Something must have shown through, maybe my hands trembled or I looked as scared as I suddenly felt because Sirius nodded and just stood there as I looked for the Floo powder. I pushed both the powder and Aanei into his arms as I heard the first uttering of a spell out in the hall.

"Aaneas has never travel by Floo powder before, take him with you," I said, slightly panicked. Sirius just stood there, eyes glancing nervously out into the hall. "I'll be right behind you." Apparently that had been the assurance he had been waiting for because he nodded and turned to the fire.

"Hogwarts," I turned to tell him to specify the infirmary because I didn't know where we'd end up if he didn't but it was too late, he and Aaneas were already gone. I debated about weather to fallow them directly or go somewhere I knew was safe. I sighed and just shouted Hogwarts as I tossed another handful of Floo powder into the fire. A loud crash echoed through the house and I cringed before diving into the fireplace. 

I didn't letting myself stop to think about what condition everything would be in when I came back. If I came back. 

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